Soldiers’ deaths in Afghanistan mark Australia’s worst toll
KABUL, Afghanistan — Five Australian soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan within hours of one another Wednesday and Thursday, three of them at the hands of a turncoat Afghan soldier, making it the deadliest period in a decade of fighting here for one of the staunchest U.S. allies.
Allies: attacks on Afghan troops by colleagues rise sharply
KABUL, Afghanistan — Even as attacks by Afghan security forces on NATO troops have become an increasing source of tension, new NATO data shows another sign of vulnerability for the training mission: even greater numbers of the Afghan police and military forces have killed each other this year.
American soldiers fire at Afghan bus, killing civilians
KABUL — American troops raked a large passenger bus with gunfire near Kandahar on Monday morning, killing and wounding civilians, and igniting angry anti-American demonstrations in a city where winning over Afghan support is pivotal to the war effort. The shooting, which killed as many as five civilians and wounded 18, occurred on the eve of the most important offensive of the war. In coming weeks, thousands of American, NATO and Afghan troops are expected to try to take control of the Kandahar region, the spiritual home of the Taliban.
Italy Ponders Afghan Pullout After Deadly Blast
A powerful suicide bomb that killed six Italian soldiers here on Thursday prompted Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy to declare that his nation had begun planning to “bring our young men home as soon as possible.”
Cheney’s Iraq Visit Eclipsed as 43 Killed in Shiite Holy City Bombing
A bombing on Monday evening killed 43 people near the Imam Hussein shrine in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, penetrating one of the most secure perimeters in Iraq, and Iraqi police officers at the scene and several witnesses said it had been carried out by a female suicide bomber.
Conflict Simmers on a Second Kurdish Front in Northern Iraq
Deadly raids into Turkey by Kurdish militants holed up in northern Iraq are the focus of urgent diplomacy, with Turkey threatening invasion of Iraq and the United States begging for restraint while expressing solidarity with Turkish anger.
US General Sees Long Fight, Maybe More Troops For Iraq
The new U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, warned Thursday that U.S. troops here faced a long road ahead and left open the possibility of calling in even more soldiers as he described the difficult task of calming the country.